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Mike Doughty's truth marches on |
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Written by by VINCENT GIANDONATOR / Photos by ADAM BIELAWSKI
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Saturday, 15 October 2005 |
Mike Doughty has come to Chicago and he has left us fully rocked. Small rocked, that is.
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Mike Doughty and The Mike Doughty Band
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 Entertainment
 Art
Park West
Chicago, Ill.
October 15, 2005
Set list:
93XRT intro
Doughty intro
"Tremendous Brunettes"
"27 Jennifers"
"True Dreams of Wichita"
"Madeline and Nine"
"American Car"
"Looks"*
"Grey Ghost"*
"I Hear the Bells"*
"Sampler Jam"
"Busting Up a Starbucks"
"Unsingable Name"
"Sunkeneyed Girl"
"Scrap Fact"
"Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well"
"It's Raining Men" / "Firetruck Jam"
"Ossining"
"Paradise City" / "The Gambler"
"St. Louise is Listening"
"Your Misfortune"
* = Doughty solo For more goodies, including the concert in downloadable format, visit www.archive.org.
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The small rock world tour marches on with a recent stop in Chicago. Mike and the band (drummer Pete McNeal formerly of “Cake”, Andrew “Scrap” Livingston on Bass, “Handsome” Dan Chen on Keyboards) continue to drum up support for the album, “Haughty Melodic.” The album, a turn away from Mike's solo work, includes a full band (not the current guys) which Doughty has not utilized since his infamous days with Soul Coughing.
Though the acoustic stylings still have a place and a rabid following, it seems that this new sound also fits, with fans giving raucous praise to the album, which is receiving heavy airplay on “college” rock stations. This night in Chicago, the crowd was immensely pleased to see Mike break out the sampler and accompanied by the band, lay down a fat tune that nobody at the venue had heard before. Featuring a sound bite of Norman Mailer from the Muhammed Ali/ George Foreman documentary “When We Were Kings”, the sample song with the juicy hook, “I'm Gonna Dance and Dance” certainly surprised and delighted the crowd.
Perhaps the greatest strength of this show was that it was not only fun for Soul Coughing and solo-Doughty fans, but it was equally as appealing to people who knew nothing of the healthy body of work. Some of this might come from Doughty and his accessible nature. Blogging extensively on his website (mikedoughty.com or superspecialquestions.com) Doughty has a very special connection with his listeners. From responding to emails, to taking time to sign autographs at meet & greet with folks before, during and after his shows; Doughty is there for his fans. For example, at the end of the Chicago show, Mike Dumped out a bottle of water, handed it to a fan in the front row, and told him to beat on his guitar. Which Doughty had placed at the front of the stage while Mike mussed with the pedals. The results produced distorted sounds at the end of “Your Misfortune” and created one VERY happy fan.
Other items worthy of mention are as follows: 1)The “Show within a show”; A time when the band leaves the stage and Mike does some solo work, adding an intimate note to the performance. 2) Doughty and the boys have crafted the best ever rendition of “It's Raining Men” by blending it with the oft-requested “Firetruck.” 3) Among many other jokes with the crowd, Mike insisted that the drummer was not McNeal, but “Jorge Lipschitz McKluskey III, Jr. of Saxony” whose name grew in suffixes as the show progressed. Its moments like these that make a Doughty concert a unique and fulfilling experience.
The bottom line, there is nobody better at making a huge room feel cozy than Mike Doughty. If you missed the concert, check it out on an upcoming XRT Sunday Night Concert and definitely do not miss this band the next time they come back to a city near you. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
